Devotee offers Rs 8.36 crore worth golden garland to shrine

A devotee from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh offered a "Sahasra Nama Mala" (golden garland), valued at about Rs 8.36 crore, to the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara near here on the opening day of the nine-day annual Brahmotsavam festivities tonight.

The jumbo garland, weighing about 28 kg, contained as many as 1008 golden coins carrying 1008 holy names of Lord Venkateswara, temple sources said.

M Ramalinga Raju, an entrepreneur, handed over the offering to the priests and top officials of the shrine in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, they said.

Naidu was in the temple after making the customary offering of a set of new silk clothes to Lord Venkateswara on behalf of the state government on the occasion of Brahmotsavam, the sources added.